


Wrecked

by TheHomestuckWhovian



Series: Reunion [1]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Pidge is awesome, being keith is suffering, no I don't regret it, so female pronouns for Pidge in this, trans-girl Pidge, yes I referenced that meme
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-26
Updated: 2016-07-02
Packaged: 2018-07-18 03:22:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 7,146
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7297480
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheHomestuckWhovian/pseuds/TheHomestuckWhovian
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Six months after being separated from her friends and ending up deep in the expansive Galra Empire, Pidge has been working to locate her friends and weaken the empire when she finds out that one of her friends is imprisoned on a Galra ship. </p><p>But finding him is easier said than done, and will end up with her learning horrible things about her friend, and the planet she and the others call home.</p><p>
  <strong>This fic is <span class="u">DEAD</span> and thus is remaining incomplete.</strong>
</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Intercepted and Let Go

**Author's Note:**

> And here begins this mess.
> 
> I don't have a definite headcanon for Pidge really, but for the sake of this story, Pidge is a transgender girl. It probably won't come up, but that's the headcanon we are going with today.
> 
> Also, being Keith is suffering, as you'll see in this story.

In deep space, a green ship, shaped like a lioness, was blasting through an empty area.

Inside, a young teenager tied her growing hair back, yawning as she pressed a button and muttered, "Day 183, I think: According to the recent device I stole from the last Galra ship, the sabotage I've been doing is starting to gain attention. Will need to repair the cloaking device after it got damaged from that last firefight, so no one realizes I'm the one causing it. Still no sign of any other members of Team Voltron, and all attempts to contact other lions or the castle have failed again. Setting Green to autopilot so I can work on repairs."

She shut off the recording device and yawned again, muttering, "Wish I had scissors." Despite her previous fear of cutting her hair, she found short hair was much more convenient. Her hair was thick enough that she was constantly having to improvise new hair ties after previous ones broke, and she had to keep her helmet on when there were windy planets, even if they were sweltering hot, to keep her hair from blowing into her face.

After tying her hair back and pulling on her helmet, she pressed the button that made the mask airtight, becoming her air supply, and told Green, "Going to fix that cloaking device." She clipped the cable to her suit, grabbed her toolbox, and waited.

The lion opened its mouth, allowing her to float out into space, and she dragged herself along the lion, reaching the cloaking device. She began work on the cloaking device as Green hummed slightly under her hands.

Soon she finished repairs and tugged on the line, allowing herself to be pulled back into Green, and let the cockpit fill with oxygen before she removed her helmet.

"Alright Green, that should do it. You should be able to turn invisible again." Pidge yawned and stretched, muttering, "I'm gonna sleep. Wake me up if we intercept anything, alright?"

Green hummed in response, and Pidge smiled. The last six months had been hard, but she and Green had really bonded, and she was glad for the company. A sentient robotic lion was better than no company after all.

She laid out on her pallet and closed her eyes, ready to sleep.

Green suddenly hummed, and Pidge sighed, sitting up.

"Okay, let's hear the correspondence this time," Pidge mumbled, turning on the Galra device. She'd had to break open the thing to add a freaking on-button without Shiro to activate it, because the Galra Empire had forgotten the simplicity and effectiveness of a fucking on-button.

" _Do you have a report, General?_ " The creepy second-in-command to Zarkon's voice came from the device. Pidge shuddered at her voice. She never wanted to cross paths with the asshole who experimented on her friend.

The unnamed general reported, " _We have taken the Red Lion. The Red Paladin was overtaken by sheer numbers. We are bringing both to your location._ "

Pidge's eyes widened, and she felt like she stopped breathing. Keith. Keith had been captured. That...that shouldn't have happened. Keith was one of their best fighters. If Keith could be taken...

" _Good. It'll be nice to have Experiment T-50 back,_ " Haggar mused. " _Of course, there is not much left I could do to him._ "

Experiment T-50? What the fuck did that have to do with Keith?

" _Continue as planned,_ " Haggar ordered.

" _Affirmative,_ " the general answered, and the sound dissolved into static.

Pidge pressed the off button and muttered, "Shit. Just...shit. How the fuck did they manage to get Keith!"

Green hummed in reassurance, and Pidge sighed, leaning against the side of the cockpit. She had to release Keith and Red, but how?

"Alright then," Pidge decided. "We'll have to locate him somehow. Any ideas?"

There was a pause before Green hummed an answer.

"Okay, that sounds like a good idea. We are in Galra territory, so finding one of their ships should be easy. It'll also let me see if they have found anyone else. Hopefully Keith was the only one caught."

The lion hummed an additional comment.

Pidge groaned, "I'll be fine, Green. I slept yesterday. We need to locate Keith."

Another hum and Pidge rolled her eyes.

"Fine! You win. I'll get some sleep. Let me at least turn on the cloaking device so no one notices you."

She leaned over and activated it, before crawling back over to her pallet. With that, she laid down on the soft improvised mattress, allowing the soft vibration of Green to lull her to sleep.

* * *

_The teenager stared at the government officials, asking, "And there will be no connection to me or my family?"_

_"Of course not," the leader, a well-dressed man with salt and pepper hair answered. His brown eyes seemed completely emotionless as he smiled, putting the teenage girl on edge. She had already been taken advantage of once; she didn't want it to happen again._

_"What do I get in return?" the teenager asked, raising an eyebrow. "You are talking about how much I'll be helping my planet, and what a benefit this will be to society. Well, tell me what I'll get out of this, because the society never did a damn thing for me. Society said it was my fault I ended up this way, and then didn't do a damn thing to make this shit easier. So, give me a good reason why I shouldn't turn down your offer?"_

_The man gave another smile, which again didn't reach his eyes, and queried, "What do you want in return?"_

_The girl thought hard about it, then stared at the man._

_"I want one million dollars in my bank account," the girl answered. "And I want a permanent black spot on the record of the man who did this to me. I want him to truly suffer for ruining my life."_

_The man nodded, saying, "Done. Anything else?"_

_She turned her attention to the subject of this debate, considered for a moment, and said, "Don't do too much damage. He doesn't deserve this. Make sure he never knows what I did to him."_

_The man nodded and picked up his prize, asking, "Will that be all, Miss Kogane?"_

_The girl nodded, saying, "That'll be all."_

_And the man walked out, holding a fussing baby as the girl looked out the hospital window, stopping for only a moment to tell her, "Pleasure doing business with you."_

_"Don't try to forgive me," she muttered, looking at the promise ring on her finger before pulling it off and tossing it in the trash. "I'm no better than him."_

_With that, she turned over and ignored the guilt she felt settling in her stomach._

_It's not like they would hurt him...right?_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Keith has 99 problems, and literally being sold to the government by his underage mother is only the start.
> 
> Also, lions are pretty much confirmed to be sentient, so no, Pidge isn't going insane from loneliness...yet.


	2. Infiltrating and Escaping

Pidge eyed the Galra ship as Green approached it. She was going to need to infiltrate it, get into its files, find out what ship Keith was being held on and where it was, maybe steal another one of those Galra floating Rover things, and then get out of there. All without drawing attention to herself or Green.

Pidge cracked her knuckles before placing her hands back on the controls, saying, "Alright, Green. Lets do this."

She carefully piloted Green to the underside of the ship and activated the laser in Green's mouth, cutting a hole in the bottom of the ship.

"Close your entrance until I get back," she whispered as she climbed out. As she used her back rockets to propel herself into the ship, she momentarily looked back to see what appeared to be open space outside the hole.

Pidge, after six months of infiltrating and sabotage, knew the schematics of the standard Galra ship decently. Of course, she wasn't an expert, but she could figure her way out to a place where she could access the ship's files.

Pidge quickly pressed up against the wall of a nearby hallway as a few Galra soldiers passed, holding her breath. After she could no longer hear their footsteps, she continued quietly heading towards the location she needed to be at.

She approached the computer and groaned. Another hand-activated device! Great! Sabotaging didn't require her to actially activate the device, but getting the files did!

She peeked down the hall, and grinned at her luck. One of those rovers was coming this way. Deus ex Galra for the win!

The rover passed by the entrance to the room, allowing her to snatch it out of the air and quickly open it up.

She quickly reprogrammed it, the color of the lights changing from purple to green, and smiled as it floated back into the air.

"It wouldn't be fair to name you Rover," Pidge noted, remembering Rover's sacrifice, "so I'm going to call you Spot."

Spot floated to the hand pad and projected a light onto it, activating the computer.

Pidge set to work, copying the files and starting the download onto a seperate drive. Green could translate them once she got back, but first she had to get all of them onto the drive.

She sat on the floor, humming to herself. It was times like these where she missed the others, when she could talk to them and the process would seem faster. She could discuss alien peanut butter cookies and engineering with Hunk, or talk to Shiro about her dad and brother, or try to keep Lance and Keith from beating the crap out of each other. Ah, memories.

She heard a beep finally and disconnected the drive from the computer, turning it off and racing off with Spot close behind her.

She just about reached the hole when an alarm went off. She cursed as she peeked around the corner, where two Galra soldiers were guarding the hole. They probably didn't know it was her, since Green was invisible, but she still needed to be careful.

She pulled out her bayard and launched the blade, which wrapped around the guards, before she set off the taser function, shocking them.

Pidge tugged them out of the way before retracting her blade, jumping through the hole into Green's open mouth with Spot just after her.

"Let's go!" she shouted as she sat down, quickly blasting away from the Galra ship.

Green hummed under her fingers and Pidge promised, "I'll add a special feature the Galra Empire can't imitate so we don't have an incident like last time, but it was necessary." The moment the Galra ship was off her radar, she switched to autopilot and plugged the drive into Green.

Green hummed the translation time and Pidge shrugged, saying, "It could be worse."

Just another day in the life of Katie "Pidge" Holt.

* * *

_It sucks when your first memory is escaping._

_He would know. The first memory he had was running away when he was maybe five-years-old, a girl about twice his age carrying him as she ran. Where he was running from, he couldn't remember._

_"It'll be alright, little man," the girl assured him, hauling him on her back. "They can't hurt us anymore, okay? We'll be safe."_

_He quietly whispered, "Okay," burying his face in her dark curls._

_Eventually they stopped, and the girl pulled out a black rock and a piece of metal, starting a fire out in the chilly forest. She looked at the small boy and dropped her large red jacket over his shoulders._

_"That was my older brother's," she explained, staring at the flames. "He took care of me when our parents died, taught me what to do if I got lost outdoors when he used to take me camping. But he got shot by the cops, and now I'm here, and that's all I have left of him. Not even sure how I was able to keep it."_

_The boy shuddered, pulling the jacket tighter around himself._

_"I guess you were born into the system?" she asked him, looking at him. When he avoided her eyes, she nodded, adding, "Born to a mom who couldn't take care of you, I guess. You are lucky. You don't have anything to compare them to."_

_He shrugged, pulling his knees under the jacket._

_"What's your name?" she asked him curiously._

_He remained silent, so she just sighed, telling him, "Well, my name's Annie."_

_"...T-50."_

_"What?" Annie asked, eyes widening._

_The boy muttered, "I-I was called T-50. By the mean ladies."_

_"You mean...no one ever gave you a real name?"_

_"No."_

_Annie was shocked silent, before declaring, "Well, that's not a name, so lets figure out a new one for you, okay?"_

_"...I guess."_

_Annie placed her face in her hands, staring at the fire as she thought, before suggesting, "How about Keith?"_

_The boy looked at her, saying, "That sounds weird."_

_"It's not weird," Annie argued. "If anything, it's weirdly ordinary. Besides, one of my brother's boyfriends was named Keith, and he was really nice."_

_The boy shrugged, saying, "Better than nothing?"_

_"Alright then!" Annie declared, tapping her hand on each of his shoulders, and then the top of his head. "I name you Keith! Now you and I are going to take on the world and make names for ourselves. Annie and Keith, two kids against the system!"_

_The kid, newly named Keith, giggled, saying, "You're weird."_

_The girl grinned, telling him, "I've been told that's my best trait, little man. Besides, it got you to smile for the first time since I met you, so I'll say it's a good thing."_

_Keith nodded before yawning._

_Annie squeezed his shoulder, then gestured for him to lie down._

_"Time to get some sleep, Keith. We gotta a big day ahead of us tomorrow. But we did good today. We escaped our final obstacle, and we named you. Now we just gotta keep moving forward, ya know?"_

_The little boy nodded, wrapping the jacket tightly around himself as he laid down._

_"We're safe now," Annie whispered, staring at the stars as Keith fell asleep._

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you don't like Annie, don't worry. She isn't a huge part of the story.


	3. Past and Future

Pidge relaxed in the cockpit, lying on her pallet.

Green hummed to her and she sat up, saying, "Good. Let's see where Keith is."

She sat down in her seat and activated the holo-screens, looking through the files.

"Their oraganization system is weird," Pidge observed as she scrolled through the files. She stopped.

"Arrests. That must be it, then." She opened up the file and looked through the documents, locating the one titled Paladin.

She grinned and opened it up.

"Okay, they arrested him near the Pollux system," Pidge muttered. "He took out about twenty soldiers before being overwhelmed. Impressive. Then he and Red were transferred to a ship in the Castor system, heh, under the order of Haggar. The ship is taking him to a gladiator ship not too far from here. We can get to the ship before it reaches its destination, create a distraction, break him and Red out, and then we'll be golden."

Green hummed something, causing Pidge to furrow her eyebrows.

"It does refer to him as Experiment T-50," she noted. "Lets look into that."

She clicked back, going through the files until she found one titled, _Terra Experiment_.

"Terra?" she wondered, opening the file.

She stared at the wide expanse of documents, clicking the first one and reading aloud.

"'The purpose of the Terra Experiment is to see how Galra technology melds with human bodies. Humans were chosen due to their unusual resistance to shock and death when suffering injuries that would kill most lifeforms, making them the perfect subjects. The planet Earth, also known as Terra, was gracious enough to donate fifty subjects of varying age, sex, and health status, after the negotiations for our treaty finished.'"

Pidge stopped breathing for a moment, shocked at this information

Earth...was allies with the Galra Empire? Was that why they covered up the Kerberos mission? Were they covering up her parents and Shiro being taken to keep everyone unaware?

She forced herself to keep reading.

"'Results: While humans are very hardy creatures, their immune systems are extraordinary enough that they will almost always reject foreign bodies. Due to the nature of the surgeries, this has resulted in death. Humans do have drugs for keeping humans from rejecting foreign bodies for transplanting organs. We may revisit the experiment with those drugs in the future.

"'We have determined what genetic factors result in survival of the implantation of Galra tech, though our remaining experiments escaped, forcing us to end the experiment before we could find their limits. To put it simply however, the subjects have had enough surgeries that there may be more Galra tech in them than human.'"

Pidge couldn't breathe. She couldn't even finish the document detailing the changes that happened to them. Earth allowed these aliens to take fifty people and effectively torture and maim them. That was absolutely despicable.

She wanted to punch something. She wanted to go to Earth and punch the despicable asshole who decided to "donate" fifty people to the Galra Empire. She...she couldn't believe it!

"GODDAMMIT!" she shouted, clenching her fists. "How the fuck could they do that?! How the _fuck_ could they let that happen to fifty innocent people?!"

Green hummed soothingly, and Pidge took a deep breath. She couldn't get too mad. She needed to figure out what the fuck they did to her friend, but calmly.

"I'm sorry, Green. I just...don't want to believe that this is real."

The humming continued, and Pudge nodded, forcing herself to calm down.

"Right. I should finish reading the file."

She opened up the document titled Experiment T-1 and found herself looking at a picture of an elderly man with a warm smile.

"'Name: Jeremy Walters. Age: 83 Earth years. Experiment Details: Experiment T-1 repeatedly requested for Experiment T-3's presence. Request was denied. After the first surgery, his immune system rejected Galra tech.'"

Pidge swallowed and went to the next document, skipping the surgery details.

"'Name: Barbara David. Age: 80 Earth Years. Experiment Details: Experiment T-2 was unable to go through the first surgery when one of her organs gave out, making her unable to process oxygen, causing immense brain damage and eventually death.'

"'Name: Louise Xavier Walters. Age: 79 Earth years. Experiment Details: Experiment T-3 refused to move after Experiment T-1's unsuccessful surgery. She repeatedly requested termination. Request was denied. She lived through five surgeries before rejecting Galra tech.'

"'Name: Daniel Marks. Age: 57 Earth years. Experiment Details: Immune system was weakened severely by a degenerative disease known by humans as lymphoma. Experiment T-4 was unable to handle surgery and died before Galra tech could be implanted.'"

Over and over, the same thing. Pidge felt sick as she read about immune systems rejecting the technology, bodies giving out from so many surgeries or their own health problems. Some only lasted a few surgeries, and others went years, though not many. She wanted to throw up when she read the first file about a child dying.

"'Name: Delaney Sparks. Age: 6 Earth years. Experiment Details: Experiment T-44 had 15 surgeries before her body rejected Galra tech.'

"Name: Annelise Carter. Age: 5 Earth years. Experiment Details: Experiment T-45 was extremely hardy, one of our two most resilient experiments. However, five Earth years after we began the experiment, Experiment T-45 broke from her containment and escaped with our other remaining living subject, forcing the Terra Experiment to end. The Earth government's attempts to locate her have proved fruitless.'"

Pidge grinned as she read this. Hell yeah, two of them got free. She wanted to give Annelise Carter a pat on the back. She was only ten when she managed to escape with another subject, compared to Shiro, who was twenty-three and escaped alone.

She looked at the picture of the tiny dark-skinned girl with thick, messy curls, and wondered what happened to her, wondering what made her decide to run, and what inspired her to take someone else with her when her own chances of escaping alone were slim. A ten year old saved another life with her decision. Pidge couldn't be left alone to make toast at that age.

And, if Keith really was part of the experiment, this kid saved one of her friends. Kudos to her!

Green hummed, and Pidge answered, "Yeah, yeah. Moving on."

She skipped to the final document and began reading.

"'Name: N/A. Age: Less than 1 Earth year. Experiment Details: Experiment T-50 came to us not yet fully developed. Despite this, he was a promising subject. However, five Earth years after we began the experiment, he was taken by Experiment T-45 when she escaped. The Earth government was unable to locate him.'"

Pidge winced at the age. If this was Keith...holy shit.

"His first five years were full of surgeries and experiments," she muttered. "My reason for taking down the Galra Empire isn't nearly as justified. That's just...that's just fucked up."

Green hummed in agreement, and Pidge closed the files. She knew they would have information on her father and brother, but she felt...overwhelmed. She needed a moment to think, and then she'd get their location.

She took a deep breath and a determined look settled on her face.

"That settles it. We've got to get Keith out of there, and soon. Priority number one. Any questions, Green?"

The lion hummed, and Pidge grinned.

"Well, Green," she began. "It's time for more upgrades."

* * *

_Annie sat up, breathing heavily. She shook, a hand reaching one of the scars on her abdomen._

_"Annie?" Keith asked, drawing her attention. He looked tiny in her brother's jacket, and his expression was filled with extreme concern. "Are you alright?"_

_She nodded, assuring him, "Yeah, it was just a nightmare. I'm fine, okay?"_

_Keith nodded slowly, but scooted closer to her anyway. Annie wasn't sure if it was to reassure her or him, but she wrapped an arm over his shoulders either way._

_It had been two months since they had escaped, and Annie was always worried. She hated how easy it was now to lift things her brother could barely lift when she was little, or how Keith had looked in a mirror the other day and wondered why his eyes were really dark purple instead of black like he thought. She hated how much being up there had messed with them._

_Keith nudged her, and she smiled. Well, it wasn't all bad. At least she wasn't alone._

_"Want me to tell you about my brother?" she asked Keith, who nodded. "Well, when I was really little, my parents died. My brother was about twenty at the time, and he decided that he wasn't going to let me end up in foster care. He had to drop out of college, but he promised me that he preferred me to class any day. He got a job at a coffee shop, sold my parents' house, and began renting an apartment across the street from it."_

_"Was it big?" Keith asked, looking at her with wide eyes. It reminded Annie where he had been living since he was a baby, and her heart panged._

_She shrugged, saying, "It was big enough. I had a room all to myself, with a soft bed and a fuzzy rug."_

_"What's a bed?"_

_Now Annie's heart was going to completely split in two, because Keith had never gotten to sleep on a bed._

_"It's this platform, with a mattress on it, which is like another platform but soft," she explained. "And you put pillows on it, which are stuffed rectangles that you lay your head on. You lay down, and you pull a blanket over yourself, and you feel warm and safe. Then you go to sleep and you don't wake up with a sore back."_

_"Oh," Keith answered. "That sounds comfy."_

_"It is," Annie told him. "My brother occasionally would bring me to the coffee shop, and the owner would give me free cups of hot chocolate and let me pretend to take orders for customers. And my brother had a couple of boyfriends I remember. One of them, Keith, actually tried to take me in when my brother was shot, but the government wouldn't let him."_

_Keith was silent, resting his head on Annie's shoulder._

_"I still don't know why they did it," she whispered, unsuccessfully hopding back the tears as she thought about her brother's death again. "I just remember Keith arriving at the apartment, telling me that my brother wasn't coming home. He spent the night that night, making calls to arrange for my adoption so I wouldn't have to go with someone I didn't know. Then, the next day, they took me, even though he told them to stop. I didn't even get to be at my brother's funeral."_

_Keith clutched her arm, saying, "I'm sorry."_

_Annie sighed, wiping away her tears, and assured him, "You have nothing to be sorry for, little man. It was five years ago. Besides, one good thing came out of the mess."_

_"What?" he asked, looking curious._

_She laughed, poked his side, and answered, "You, ya little dork. Let's face it; at this point, you are as much my family as he is. And when I'm old enough, I'll get us an apartment and beds."_

_"Really?" Keith asked hopefully. "Will it be noisy? I don't like lots of noise. It makes my ears hurt."_

_"Then I'll make sure it is quiet," she promised. "And I'll get a job at a coffee shop, like the one my brother worked at. What about you? What do you want to do?"_

_Keith looked up at the night sky and said, "I want to go up there."_

_Annie froze, then looked up at the sky._

_"It does sound interesting," Annie noted. "You have to be careful though. Don't let anyone try to hurt you like the mean ladies did, okay?"_

_He nodded, adding, "But you'll go up there with me, right? Then we can go to a place where cops don't shoot, and it isn't too noisy or bright, and we both can have beds and pillows and blankets. And we can get an apartment there."_

_Annie was silent as she stared at the sky. She had a lot of bad memories up there, of painful knives and tight spaces and an almost burning sensation in her veins every time she woke up to find herself strapped to a table._

_But, it wasn't as if the ones who hurt them were everywhere, right? Maybe Keith was right. Maybe there was a place up there where they could be safe._

_"Alright," she decided. "We'll try, okay? And we'll have plenty of food and money, and no one can take us or hurt us again."_

_Keith nodded, yawning and closing his eyes._

_"Looks like I kept you up, little man," she noted, yawning herself. "Let's get some sleep, okay? We have plans ahead of us. Big plans."_

_And with that, Annie laid down and closed her eyes, lulling herself to sleep with thoughts of soft beds and flying through a wide expanse of stars._


	4. Found and Lost

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As you can tell by the title, this is gonna be a sad chapter.

Pidge pulled herself back into Green, noting, "That should handle upgrades for both of us. The ship should be here soon. Then, it's show time."

Green hummed in amusement, clearly excited about their plan.

Pidge put away her tools and quickly set up the controls, remarking, "We'd make the best spies. They should make a movie about us. I could  be the new James Bond, except actually sneaky. Less destructive too."

The lion responded in confusion and Pidge laughed, remembering, "Right. Alien sentient robot. Never heard of James Bond. After the Galra Empire is defeated, I'll take you to Earth and we'll binge watch as many of them as we can, alright? Ooh, I can even show you Doctor Who. You'll probably find that show hilarious."

Green hummed happily in response, clearly liking the idea, and Pidge patted the control console, noting, "We are gonna do this and we'll make sure no one goes through what Shiro, or my family, or Keith went through again. We'll meet up with everyone again and take down the Galra Empire, and save Dad and Matt. Then, when we do go back to Earth, we'll deserve that fucking break to watch James Bond and Doctor Who."

The robotic lion hummed affirmingly and the two began to wait.

It took several minutes, but the Galra ship soon was within sight, and Pidge maneuvered Green into position on the underside of it, popping her knuckles before grinning.

"Alright! It's time to put on a show!"

* * *

The captain of the Galra ship was playing a game when she looked up and noticed something zoom by.

"Huh?" she muttered, turning off the holo-screen.

Suddenly, a familiar green space ship flew in front of the ship, pausing for a moment before zooming off.

The captain quickly recovered from her shock and turned on the communications system, shouting, "We've got a visual on the Green Lion. We are in pursuit. Everyone to your stations!"

She quickly turned off her game, lest the present second-in-command to Zarkon decide to punish her for distracting herself with "pointless games." She could do with not being under the Druids' knives for the rest of her existence, even if it meant she couldn't finish that level with a good score.

She had almost beaten Lieutenant Dentak's high score, dammit.

* * *

"Best plan ever!" Pidge declared from her seat, grinning as she winessed the spectacle.

She checked over things, saying, "Alright. Your cloaking device is going. Our distraction is working perfectly. Spot is in position. Now, the rest is up to me."

Green hummed to Pidge and the girl promised, "No worries, Green. Keith and Red will be blasting out of this ship in no time, and I'll be back here. Then we'll find everyone else."

Pidge took a deep breath and looked one last time at the holographic Green leading the ship on a wild goose chase before pressing a button. And, with that, she vanished.

Green opened her mouth, allowing the now invisible Pidge to float out and propel herself to the bottom of the ship, using her bayard to silently slice a hole in.

She soon was sneaking through the hallways, smiling as Galra soldiers darted past her without even noticing. Best. Upgrade. Ever!

She waited until there were no Galra around before pulling up a holographic schematic of the ship. Prisoner barracks were a few levels up, near the center. The red lion was in a heavily locked storage section back at the bottom, but she didn't need to worry too much about the locks. The holographic Green this ship was currently chasing would probably mean less guards, but she could handle them while invisible and no one would suspect a thing until Red blasted out of there.

She closed the holo-screen and silently headed to the elevator, climbing in after two soldiers and silently waiting as they closed the doors, pressing the level to the third button. She just had to wait until they got there.

"Geez, another lion?" one muttered with a groan. "Why do we have to chase them? They do more damage to us than we do to them. It's suicide to provoke them. One of them is a rogue experiment of Haggar, and he's maimed and dismembered many of our people, and that isn't even counting the others."

"I know, but keep your voice down," the other whispered. "Haggar is on this ship. You know it is treason to go against Zarkon's quest, even verbally. Now shut your mouth."

They were silent for a moment, before the second continued, "The green one chopped off my cousin's legs. My aunt had to pay someone to make sure he wasn't 'mercy killed,' but now they both have had to go into hiding on a planet outside the empire. They went against the empire just to live, and now they have to hide for their lives. If we speak against the empire, we'll be killed or put under the knives of the Druids."

"If the Paladins don't kill us first," the first one grumbled.

The second one shook his head, adding, "We just need to keep our mouths shut and stay on guard. We've lived this long. I believe we can live longer."

The first sighed and nodded as the door opened. "I wish you the best of luck. Hopefully we live to speak later."

"Best of luck to you too."

They exited the elevator, with Pidge close behind them. She waited until the two soldiers when their separate ways before checking her holo-screen again, quickly memorizing the path she needed to take before heading off.

She weaved through the corridors, silently passing talking soldiers as they headed to their stations, trying to forget the moment she just witnessed. If she began empathizing with them...she needed to be able to fight them without guilt or shame rising up her throat.

...Maybe she wouldn't kill them or maim them anymore. Maybe just knock them out.

She shook away her thoughts and arrived at the door of the prison block. According to the last update of the files, Keith should be alone, but she still needed to be prepared to get additional prisoners to the escape pods before heading back to.

"Spot, you there?"

She got a beep in response in the vague area next to her, where Spot was floating invisibly, and sighed with relief. Before she could tell Spot to open the door though, she heard foot steps and quietly backed up, not wanting the individual approaching to bump into her and discover her.

She recognized the cloaked witch as she passed, placing her hand on the door to activate it and open it.

Pidge followed her in, watching as she approached Keith, who was sitting on the ground, staring at the wall as if it murdered his family. Considering the experiment, that might not be too far off.

"I see you are still sitting there," Haggar observed, a smirk on her face that made Pidge want to punch it. "I'm surprised. After all, you could escape at any time."

Keith was silent, and Pidge resisted the urge to punch Haggar and run. There were soldiers passing by. She only needed to wait until they were gone and then she could handle it.

"You are more Galra tech than human, after all," the witch mused, the dumb smirk remaining on her stupid-ass face. "Imagine how the other Paladins would react to learning the truth about you. You'd be an outcast again. So why bother hiding in this room? You are only preventing the inevitabl-!"

Haggar jolted at the electric shock before hitting the ground, hopefully unconscious.

"What the hell?" Keith muttered in surprise.

Pidge turned off her cloaking device and said, "Nice to see you again, but we've got to go. Once she wakes up, I want to be gone."

"What th-Pidge?!"

"Let's go!"

* * *

_Jada stepped outside the room, looking at the small boy sitting outside._

_"She wants to see you now," she told him, patting him on the shoulder. "She is still feeling a bit bad, but she should be up and about in a few weeks, alright?"_

_The boy nodded, walking into the room and sitting in the chair beside Annie. Jada watched the interaction from the outside._

_"Hey there, little man," Annie began, smiling at the child brightly. "So, I didn't end up rejecting anything. I'm just gonna be in bed for a while, okay?"_

_The boy nodded, silent for a moment before asking, "What is CPS?"_

_"Oh," Annie muttered, her smile dropping before she forced it back on her face. "They are a group that gets kids out of unsafe situations and tries to put them in safe ones, like foster care. What's going to happen is they'll send someone who will help you out and make sure you are put in a safe place, okay Keith?"_

_"We're going together, right?"_

_The young girl was silent, looking at her lap before looking Keith in the eye and telling him the truth._

_"No. No we're not. I have to stay in the hospital for a while, and they are going to take you to a new home before I get out, and then I'm going to a different one."_

_"No. I'm not going without you." Keith's expression was stubborn and determined._

_Annie sighed, saying, "Keith, they won't let you stay here. Besides, it is safer for you to go. You'll get to have maybe a mom, or a dad, or maybe a sibling like I did. You'll have your own bed, with blankets and pillows. And then you'll be able to find your way to the stars, like you wanted."_

_"But I wanted to go with you!" Keith wrapped his arms around Annie and held her tightly._

_Annie hugged him back, promising, "This won't be the last time you see me, Keith. It may not be within the next year, or even the next decade, but we'll see each other again, okay? Just promise me you won't give up. Keep looking for a way to get to those stars, Keith. You'll find more ways to get there with a family, and you won't have just me anymore. You'll have lots of people to take with you."_

_Keith was silent as he held on to Annie, still holding her tightly._

_"You can do this, Keith," Annie told him. "You survived against all odds. People will tell you stuff like how you can't do this because of this or that, but you are Keith. You survived where everyone told us you wouldn't, and you did it by being you. And no one, not me, not CPS, and not those mean ladies, can tell you that you can't do or be anything."_

_Jada stepped away from the room as Annie began crying, not wanting to intrude on the moment any longer. They needed a moment. She would give it to them.  
_

* * *

_Two weeks later, Jada headed into the room._

_"All right, Annie. Looks like you will be discharged soon. I've called CPS to send a social worker. Hey, I've even looked in to finding you a home with Keith. They said probably not, but I'm not giving up. A friend of mine even offered to consider adopting you two. Exciting, right?"_

_Annie didn't say a word from her place under the covers, not even moving._

_Jada sighed, saying, "I know you miss him, but things will work out, okay? Just gotta keep working at it, you know? You are a strong girl, I know. You can work through this."_

_Annie was silent, and Jada immediately realized what was wrong._

_"Dr. Banner?"_

_Jada looked at the door to see a man with salt-and-pepper hair and brown eyes enter the room. She set down the file, eyeing him suspiciously. Something about him seemed...off...to the doctor.  
_

_"Yes," she answered slowly. "And you are?"_

_"I am the social worker for Annelise Carter. She ran away from her foster home a few years ago. I've come to take her back."_

_Jada looked at the bed, then looked back at the man, saying innocently, "Oh? Why would you take her back to a foster home that she ran from? That doesn't seem like a good idea."  
_

_"That is none of your business, ma'am," he told her vaguely. "I suggest you discharge Ms. Carter soon. No time left to waste. I believe you have other patients to handle as well. No need to keep this bed filled."_

_Jada didn't like him. And she sure as hell didn't trust him to go near Annie. She needed to think quickly._

_"I'm sorry sir, but Annie is still sleeping," she explained calmly. "If you wish to speak to her or discharge her, you'll have to come back later."_

_"She can rest in the car. I need you to release her now."_

_Jada stood her ground, gave a smile, and answered, "Sir, I understand your frustration, but Annie is still very tired from her illness. She is only thirteen. I suggest you wait and allow her to be fully rested, or I will call CPS and suggest you be taken off of her case on the grounds that you are not properly looking out for her wellbeing. And, considering the scars I found on her when I was treating her, I have plenty of reason to believe that your decision to send her to her former foster home is not looking out for her wellbeing. I must do what is best for my patient, and that includes asking you to let her rest. Now please, step out of this room."_

_The man stared her hard in the eyes, but Jada returned with her own icy gaze and bright smile. She was always pretty great at staring contests, and this guy was no match for the hard stare of a twenty-nine-year-old physician who was determined to protect a child from this asshole. She wasn't going to back down.  
_

_"Fine," the man finally conceded, dropping her gaze. "I will wait in the waiting room then."_

_He left the room, and Jada closed the door, heading to the bed and pulling up the covers._

_Instead of a thirteen year old girl, there were piled up pillows, making a child-sized lump under the blankets. The IV had been helpfully taped to a pillow, which was starting to look a bit damp, and the heart monitor had been shut off quietly. Annie had run away yet again.  
_

_Jada smiled as she covered the pillows again. She'd give Annie as much of a head start as she could, keep anyone from noticing that she had left until she wasn't able to anymore. Whoever that man was, Annie had spent years avoiding him for a good reason, and she wasn't going to put the poor girl back into his clutches. She deserved better than that._

_This would ruin her career when they found out, but she didn't care._

_It was what was best for her patient._

* * *

_Annie shivered in her hospital gown, hiding next to a dumpster. It was rare times like these where she missed the prison uniform she was required to wear. It sure was warmer than this thin piece of fabric, despite all the terrible memories associated with it. She would need to go to a clothing shelter or something.  
_

_She had places to be. She had spent three years getting back to this city. She had business to finish here, and then she'd find Keith again._

_She wondered if the guy she was looking was still in this city, and if his offer still stood. If she'd finally be able to stay in a safe place after eight years. If she'd have a home again._

Good luck, Keith _, she thought to herself._ I'll see you again someday.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Why did I add those scenes making Galra grunts empathetic? Because I like sympathetic/reluctant antagonists. Besides, no one knows that those soldiers go through, whether they have families or desires of their own, from major ones like wanting to live, to minor ones like hoping to beat someone's score in a video game.
> 
> Basically, I want you to feel so many emotions next time you watch Voltron and see the Paladins decimate soldiers.
> 
> ~~Yes, feel my pain.~~
> 
> As for the "Lost" part of the title, I'll let you guys determine if it was Keith losing Annie, or Jada losing a patient and, probably later, her job.
> 
> Sorry if this chapter is terrible. I had a rough night and wanted to get this over with.

**Author's Note:**

> If you like it, dislike it, or notice anything wrong, please let me know in the comments?
> 
> *cough*Ineedconstantvalidation*cough*


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